Microsoft plans to buy Danger

Microsoft said on Monday it would acquire Danger, a maker of consumer smart phones, which is clear that Microsoft is expanding its mobile division.

The acquisition came after an on-again, off-again series of talks with Danger, based in Palo Alto, Calif., beginning in the middle of last year. According to a person familiar with the negotiations, Microsoft ultimately doubled what it was willing to pay to keep Danger out of the hands of other suitors, including Google.

Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.

The transaction is evidence of the accelerating shift away from the personal computer and toward a proliferating array of hand-held devices that can access information and entertainment on the Internet.

The rapid emergence of this capability is likely to have the same impact on the popularity of smartphones as the rise of the graphical user interface had on the personal computer industry. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., and which dominates the PC market, wants to be a leader in this new market for the hand-held computers.

After stumbling for years in the mobile phone business with its Windows Mobile software, Microsoft has recently won over Palm, Motorola and other cellphone makers. However, Microsoft’s software has been more popular in smartphones made for business users, rather than consumers, several analysts and industry executives said.

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